Milei Suffers Defeat: Left Wins Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Province, governed by Peronist leader Axel Kicillof, accounts for more than 30 percent of Argentina’s GDP and contains 40 percent of the national electorate. That makes the vote for local lawmakers and councillors a key prelude to the upcoming midterm national elections on October 26.

The results are being closely watched by politicians, analysts and markets alike, all of whom are seeking an assessment of Milei’s staying power.

The Milei administration headed into the contest shaken by a corruption scandal at the ANDIS national disability agency involving people close to the President, including his sister and chief-of-staff Karina Milei.

That’s a stark change, given Milei’s normal free-market mantra and may complicate relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Milei has banked his popularity on falling inflation – consumer price hikes have slowed from 87 percent in the first seven months of 2024 to 17.3 percent over the same period this year – and through polarisation with Kirchnerism, the Peronist faction led by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007–2015), who is now under house arrest as she serves a corruption sentence.

Most polls had forecast a close race with a slight edge for the Peronists and warned of the possibility of low turnout.